How could I improve this - various questions?

I have been working on this scene for a while now and am at the present stage highlighted below with the printouts.

I would like some constructive critique on the work - both good and bad as to where I can improve...

I have tried to put some sea in the scene but this was so unrealistic I removed it again - so any feedback on how to get sea with rolling waves (not a storm!) and a ripple on the seashore would be handy... I've yet to come across something telling me how to go about this...

Secondly I would like to add some log tyoe fencing - how would I go about this... I could also do with some kind of wooden gate...

And thirdly - I want to convert this scene into some kind of night scene too - so how would I add an old fashioned street light to the scene? I tried with a llighting object but this went simply stupid and looked too severe - I want to be able to have rays of light shining down onto the road and the underside of the branches.

I know this is a lot to ask in one topic, but I would welcome any advice and suggestions by all members - new and old!
Be nice or harsh - I'm tough and can take it!

Thanks
Terry

Version_2.jpg

2000 x 1005 - 1M

Version_1.jpg

2000 x 1005 - 1M

Comments

@Terry: The one thing that catches my eye is the edge of the terrain in front and to the fore side of the houses. Those areas would look better feathered toward the road and beach(?) using the Terrain Editor, or by lowering the entire terrain until those edges are even with the road and beach(?). The sky and lighting doesn't look quite right to me for the scene, but I lack experience on how to adjust them.

David has an excellent short video tutorial that deal with creating an easy shoreline scene with convincing waves.
I'm sure he'll be along soon with a link for you on that or you could go check the list at the top of the sub forum. :)

As for the street light... Adding lighting to night time scenes can be complex so it's not going to be easy to give anything more than general direction on it. There are old street lights available on ShareCG and usually only require a Bryce light to be inserted inside them as I have done in this render, and then the light edited until it gives the effect you want. :)

However, I'm going to put making a street lamp effect down on my "to do" list since it seems to crop up fairly regularly and it sounds like an interesting challenge.

For the fencing and the gate, either building it from Bryce primitives or modelling in Wings 3D would be obvious suggestions. There are not real shortcuts to be offered here that I can think of, that would prove beneficial in the long run.

Overall, your lighting looks very "flat", possibly due to setting down shadow intensity, so there is plenty of room for improvement on that scrore. You have the makings already of a fantastic scene in terms of the 3D elements, the weakness is not the content but the lighting and related effects.

@Dave Brinnen:
Computer - top of the range (I hope) ...or it was last month... :-) it certainly cost enough...
Intel I7 running at 4.something Ghz - 16GB RAM and loads of space... Graphics card is good too.. 1TB drive space free.
I did spec this out in another topic - was told it's more than required.

I am aware that the lighting looks flat and want to do something about that...
I will look at the tutorials in a minute and see what this brings up.

Thanks for the feedback - will also look up Wings3d - never heard of that one before - is it like bryce?

And thirdly - I want to convert this scene into some kind of night scene too - so how would I add an old fashioned street light to the scene? I tried with a llighting object but this went simply stupid and looked too severe - I want to be able to have rays of light shining down onto the road and the underside of the branches.

I know this is a lot to ask in one topic, but I would welcome any advice and suggestions by all members - new and old!
Be nice or harsh - I'm tough and can take it!